


Adventures on Earth

by aces



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-02
Updated: 2011-02-02
Packaged: 2017-10-15 07:58:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/158743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aces/pseuds/aces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And so it was decided that Luke would go to Hogwarts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adventures on Earth

**Author's Note:**

> Major screwing about with the timelines to get these two fandoms to mesh the way I wanted, but what’s the point of being fannish if you can’t mess about with canon sometimes? (I paraphrase.)  
> Also, extremely vague spoilers for both “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End” and for _Deathly Hallows_. Written in 2008 for the Doctor Who crossover ficathon on LJ.

“Sarah Jane?” Luke wandered upstairs to the attic, frowning at the letter he held in his hands. “Have you ever heard of Hogwarts School?”

“Hogwarts? Oh yes, of course I’ve heard of it,” Sarah Jane said absently, skimming a file of notes she’d made on the Cat People a few years back. “Why, where have you been hearing about—oh.” She looked up and saw the stationery her son held. “Oh. May I see that please?”

Luke held the letter out, and she took it. Neither spoke.

Sarah took her time reading the letter, though it was a short one. “I see,” she said at last. “Well, of course you must go.”

“Must I?” Luke was as surprised as Sarah Jane by his question.

“Not if you don’t want to,” she said quickly, and then added more slowly, “It’s a marvelous opportunity, though. The chance to use both your scientific skills and, apparently, magical…” She stood up and handed Luke his letter back. “It’s your decision, Luke,” she said, and both adoptive mother and son pretended not to notice how unsteady her voice was. “I shan’t try to stop you if you’d like to go.”

Luke stared down at the letter in his hands. “Would I be able to write you?”

“Of course! And call, if you like; well, I think you’d be able to, though I don’t know if the school forbids regular technology on its premises or not.” She hugged him close. “But of course you’d be able to write, and I’d write you, as often as you’d liked. Or not,” she added quickly, taking a step back. “You’re a growing boy, after all, and I wouldn’t like to-to embarrass you.”

Luke looked at her and grinned, hugging her impulsively. “You’d never do that, mum,” he said.

And so it was decided that Luke would go to Hogwarts.

*

“I’m sorry,” Luke apologized to the boy he’d just accidentally run over with his luggage trolley. “I’m new at this.”

“Me too,” the boy sighed. He stuck out his hand to shake Luke’s. “My name’s Albus.”

“Luke,” he said, helping Albus pick up some of his possessions. “Is your whole family—like this?” he added, nodding back to the trio—two adults, a younger girl—who were waving at Albus. “Wizards, I mean?”

Albus glanced back as well. “Well, yeah,” he said, looking at Luke in puzzlement. “My dad’s Harry Potter.”

“Oh,” Luke said, and he paused. “Should I know him?”

Albus blinked. “Definitely a Muggle then,” he decided.

“Muggle?” Luke stumbled over the unfamiliar word.

“Non-magical parents,” Albus clarified. “My dad’s an Auror, and my mum works for the _Daily Prophet_. What do your parents do?”

“It’s just my mum and me,” Luke said. “She’s a journalist. Mostly, though, she saves the world.”

Albus blinked again.

*

 _Dear Sarah Jane,_

 _I’m settling into life at Hogwarts fairly well, I think. My classmates and teachers are fairly understanding about my not knowing my way around magical life, and only a handful of the Muggles—those with non-magical parents, like me—seem surprised by anything I say or do. I accidentally said something about Slitheen the other day. At least I didn’t mention anything about them in connection to Downing Street a few years ago._

 _I’m learning all sorts of new things—spells and potions, and about plants I’d never even heard of. I think I can improve upon some of the potions I’ve learned about in particular, but I’ll wait until I’ve got permission from the professors before I start any experimentations._

 _I miss you, mum. I hope you’re alright._

 _Love,  
Luke_

 _*_

 _Dear Luke,_

 _It’s so wonderful to hear from you! I’m glad you’re settling in alright, and I know you’ll make lots of friends while you’re there. I have to admit, I don’t tend to think of myself as a Muggle—but then, I suppose if you go in for those sorts of binary definitions that’s just about what I have to be. Wizards can be just as silly as ‘Muggles,’ Luke, and don’t you forget that._

 _Good luck with your experiments; I look forward to hearing how they turn out. I’m sure they’ll be splendid._

 _Things here continue like usual—Maria and Clyde both miss you very much, but they’ve been a great help to me with a few of my little projects, about which I’ll give you more detail later in person. That Captain Jack dropped by and tried to get me to let him analyze my sonic lipstick, but of course I didn’t let him anywhere near it._

 _I miss you too, Luke. I miss you very much._

 _Love you,  
Sarah_

 _*_

 _Dear Sarah Jane,_

 _I met Harry Potter today! I’d never heard of him before I met his son Albus at the train—you’d like Albus, mum, he’s great—but everybody talks about him at school. He’s like you because he’s saved the world. And he knows you too—you never told me that! He came to our Defense Against the Dark Arts class yesterday to tell us about grindylows and he stopped me after class to ask after you. I shouldn’t be surprised you know each other, should I? You know everyone, mum._

 _I’ve got to go—we’ve got a load of transfiguration homework due tomorrow and I’ve barely started._

 _Love,  
Luke_

*

“Hey, Luke,” Albus waved a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ at his friend as Luke sat down for breakfast in the Great Hall. “Isn’t that your mum?”

“What?” Luke glanced at the short article and photograph Albus was pointing at, located toward the back of the paper, even as he reached for toast and butter. Then he glanced again. Then he snatched the paper out of Albus’ hands.

“Mum!” It _was_ her picture, staring up and arguing with an extremely tall, metallic figure. Luke skimmed the related article—a light had descended out of the sky over Ealing and this Muggle, Sarah Jane Smith, had dealt with it.

Even as Luke ran upstairs in search of his mobile, he wondered how on earth this story had ended up in the _Prophet_. And if it had made it to a magical newspaper, what were the Muggle papers saying?

“Mum!” Getting a signal at Hogwarts was always an achievement. “Sarah Jane, can you hear me?”

“Oh, hello, Luke.” Sarah’s voice was staticky and distant but it was _there_ , and Luke sat down on the edge of his bed abruptly. “I was wondering when you’d call or write me; I haven’t heard a peep out of you in weeks!”

“But Sarah Jane, what happened?”

“What, dear?”

“I saw something in the paper,” Luke explained, shouting to be heard over the white noise. “Something about a metallic creature landing by our house?”

“Oh, him.” Sarah sounded dismissive. “Nothing to worry about, Luke; I sent him on his way.” Her voice changed, sharpened into something very like concern. “I hate to end this call so soon, but I really must be going, Luke; something’s just come up…”

“Sarah Jane?” Luke heard something over the phone, a crashing and banging sound. “Mum!”

“I’ll call you back just as soon as I can,” Sarah promised, “I’m sorry, Luke, I really have to go…Mr Smith, I need you!” The last words were shouted, and it sounded like Sarah Jane might have been running upstairs in the house.

The line went dead.

Luke stared down at his mobile and wondered if he could just take a broomstick and fly all the way back to London.

*

 _Dear Luke,_

 _I’m really terribly sorry about the way I ended that last phone call with you, but I’m sure you’ve seen that everything has worked out splendidly. UNIT were very helpful, I have to admit, particularly that lovely Martha Jones._

 _In any case, everything’s alright now, and I wanted to make sure you knew that. You **don’t need to worry about me**. Okay?_

 _Now, get back to your studies. I can’t wait to hear about what you’ve done with the locating charm you told me about in your last letter. I’m sure it would come in wonderfully useful for all those bits and bobs I keep losing track of._

 _I love you and miss you, and you’d better not even_ think _about staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. Maria and Clyde would hunt you down and drag you back for one thing. They want to hear all about life at your school._

 _See you soon, my dear,  
Sarah_

 _*_

 _Dear mum,_

 _Being back at Hogwarts after the holiday is both exciting and strange. Telling you and Maria and her dad and Clyde all about it while I was home made it feel sort of like a dream, you know? I suppose it’s silly, considering that what you do every day most people would also consider dreamlike, whereas we know better._

 _It was great to see you all, and I already miss you a lot. If you need any help with anything—anything at all—LET ME KNOW. Please? It’s not nearly as interesting reading about it after the fact in the newspaper._

 _Sorry—have to get back to my homework,  
Luke_

 _*_

 _Dear Luke,_

 _Thank you for the chocs on Valentine’s Day! They were delicious. I must say, I’ve never had my chocolate jump around quite so much before as those frogs did. Though there was one time the Doctor took Harry and I to a planet where—well, never mind, I’ll tell you later._

 _I’ve enclosed an article I just got published about some new advances in nanotechnology. There, you see? Isn’t it better to see my name in the byline than as the subject of the article? I hope you like it. And don’t tell me what technobabble I got wrong, please! I got enough of that from the scientists themselves when I was writing it._

 _Now I really must be off—some friends of mine need some help getting home, and I know just the person in UNIT to contact to get their ship back. Wink, wink._

 _Love you,  
 ~~Sarah~~ Mum_

*

“Luke Smith!” Sarah Jane thundered in a surprisingly authoritative voice. “I can’t _believe_ you broke into the Headmaster’s office!”

Luke winced and glanced first at his mother and then at the Headmaster. “I just wanted to talk to the portraits,” he confessed, looking down at the floor again.

“Then you ask,” Sarah said, “you don’t just _barge in uninvited_!”

“But I didn’t,” he objected. “Albus knew the password.” He clamped his mouth shut, too late.

“Oh,” Albus sounded glum somewhere behind Luke. “Ooops.”

The Headmaster raised his eyebrows at both boys and then looked over their heads at Albus’ father. “Do _you_ have anything to say?” he inquired dryly.

Sarah Jane glared at Harry Potter, while the two boys peeked up and then looked away, very quickly.

“Sorry,” Harry sounded apologetic. “No idea where he gets it from.” He looked at Sarah pointedly. “Either of them.”

Sarah had the grace to flush and turn her glare back on her son.

“We didn’t do anything, Sarah Jane, really!” Luke looked at her appealingly. “We just…we just wanted to _see_.”

Harry stepped forward and ruffled his son’s hair. “No harm done this time, is there, Headmaster?” he said. “Why not leave it to their head of house to decide upon some sort of detention?”

Luke and Albus simultaneously groaned.

“That sounds like a splendid idea,” the Headmaster agreed, sitting back in his chair. “Thank you for coming, Harry, and you, Ms Smith.”

Harry turned to Sarah as they all began leaving the office. “Nice to see you again, Sarah Jane,” he grinned.

Sarah snorted, and then laughed and stuck out her hand. He shook it. “And you, Harry. You look much better cleaned up,” she added seriously and grinned when he blushed.

“Mum?” Luke asked at the same time that Albus questioned, “Dad?”

“Never mind,” the two adults said simultaneously.

*

 _Dear mum,_

 _I’m sorry I’ve been so slow to respond to your last letter—the homework’s piled up quite a bit the past few weeks, and exams start in a couple days, so I’m afraid this has to be a quick one._

 _I promise I haven’t gotten in any more trouble since the incident with the Headmaster’s office, and I hope I never have to go into the Forbidden Forest again by myself, even if it was during the day. Professor Longbottom complimented me on the soil composition I created in order to better grow alihotsy, and apparently I’m a natural when it comes to Defense Against the Dark Arts. It helps that I’m really good with maths. I’m still not doing as well with Transfigurations as I would like—I’m sure if I better understood the_ principles _behind it, I’d do better._

 _I can’t believe I’m going to be home in just over a week—I can’t wait to see Clyde and Maria!_

 _See you soon,  
Luke_

*

Sarah Jane soundly hugged her son when he jumped off the Hogwarts Express, and then she kissed him on the forehead, damn what any of his fellow students might think. “So,” she said as they left the station, “after a full year at school, what do you think?”

“I like it,” he said, putting his things in the boot of Sarah’s car. “It’s hard, and it’s very different from anything else I’ve ever known, and sometimes the professors get a bit annoyed when I keep asking _why_ magical things work the way they do.”

Sarah made sure he had his seatbelt on before she started the car. She looked amused. “I’m sure more of that will become clearer to you when you get to the more advanced classes.”

“I hope so.” Luke looked out the window, taking in the sights of London. It’d only been a few months, of course, but it was still exciting to be back home. “I can’t wait; I’m sure it will be very interesting.”

“Maria and Clyde shall probably be waiting for us when we get back,” Sarah said after a comfortable silence. “The last I saw of them, they were trying to make cakes at Maria’s, under Alan’s supervision. I think we have a party in store for us.”

Luke grinned. Sarah put an arm around his shoulders to give him an impulsive one-armed hug. “It’s good to see you again,” she said softly.

“You too, mum,” said Luke.

“So,” Sarah continued, both hands back on the wheel. “What are your plans for the summer?”

“Helping you, of course,” Luke replied immediately, and Sarah Jane’s laugh rang out.


End file.
